Warren Harding was 25% black and although everyone knew it, they didn't come out and say it in public.

Steelers Fan

if he called himself white than you will be all over him saying he isn't white

Straight is Great!

He looks black. He identifies more with blacks and could you imagine going through life saying I'm half black...........get real.

Sychotic1

In this country, if you look black you are treated black and therefore you are black. What, is he supposed to run around saying he is a mulatto or picaninny or some such crap so that you will quit splitting hairs?

Historically, in the USA if you have 1/16th African blood, you were legally black, so talk to the hand.

nitro

once you go black you never go back!

Jess

Does he look white to you? If he said he was white everyone would have something to say about that too.....theres no wining!

fawlty.bs.detector

I'm white, 88.9% of the people around me are white, and they consider Obama to be black. And not a mother-loving one of them has ever considered Obama to be white based on the fact that he has a white mother. (For that matter, I've never heard any of them say Halle Berry is white because she has a white mother.)

So shouldn't the question be, "Why do ALL Americans consider other Americans with one black parent and one white parent to be black?"

CleverGirl

Ok. I dont even like the guy and I have to admit that this is kinda silly.
I dont say Im a 1/8th cherokee.
Or 1/16 German
or 1/3 Irish.
I just mark white on all the forms I fill out.
He looks black.
I look white.
It just makes since you say you are the color your skin is.

GirlfromUncle

If someone has been discriminated against because people thought they were black, they have every right to say they are black. Obama understands what it means to be black in America and that's why, I would assume, that a lot of blacks like him -- he knows what their struggles have been.

nymamiyankee

i think this is making a big deal out of nothing..im 1/2 Puerto Rican, and 1/4 Italian and Irish but say Im Hispanic bc thats more of what i am...and what i look like...why does it matter so much?

Lynne C

When you are even a part black, you are labeled black. By blacks and whites. Anyone of any race, if you are half black, you are labeled black. I, myself am, black, german irish and puertorican. I AM NOT ashamed of my white mother, I am not ashamed of my Puerto-Rican side. I put myself down as African-American, because that is what I can identify more with. But when it comes down to it, I am multi-racial. Barack has never once neglected his white side. He always embraces it. However, you just gotta deal with the fact that Obama is black. Period. Whether he's really half or whole......he's Black.

Lynda

When I attended school, long time ago, we used to refer to people of mixed race as "half n halfs." That was in a period where there were a lot less people in that situation.

So should he call himself a Half 'n Half?

For some reason, in America, if you are a mixed race and one part is white, unless you can pass as white, you have to admit you are the other. This is my observation only. I'm a minority myself.

Whenever my niece and nephews who are 1/2 white are seen in a photo, people as me, "Are they Chinese." Some members of their white family (father's side) do not totally accept them because of their race.

But sometimes certain members in my Chinese family don't accept my brother in law because he is white. So bigots and racists exist where ever there are people.

togashiyokuni2001

Meh, it's a mentality among the black community that someone who has any black parentage is black, but for Obama, it's purely a political move. His political career is in Chicago, a large urban area, and large urban areas have a lot of black people. Instead of saying he was biracial, he decided to embrace the black part of himself, reject the white part, and gain street cred by becoming a community organizer and attending a "black liberation" church for over 20 years. Really, if he was in the Midwest, he'd be biracial.

musicmom

What do you see when you look at him. Would you know he was mixed if he didn't say so? I believe that the African gene is a very strong one and hard to overlook. Look at Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey. They are considered for the most part, Black Women. My dad was half filipino(mom) half black(dad). He really didn't look that mixed. He favored Tiger Woods a bit (darker version) all of his life he was considered a Black Man.

Love Is The Answer

...really? You're really asking this?

Your family is a large part of your identity, and his father is black. Yes, his father was not around, but anyone with an absent parent can tell you that they still affect your identity.

It's also a large part because Americans are still very racist. Obama certainly does not look white, so he is not treated as white. This is probably why he says he is black. I have many multiracial friends and most of them identify more with their minority race... and the few who don't identify with their minority race are the ones who "look" white.

It's all due to the way we as a whole treat people who don't have white skin. Doesn't matter what their background is... if they are a different color, that's enough for us to treat them differently. Our country has come a long way on issues of race, but we still have a long way to go.

PS, I'm voting for Obama... and I'm NOT black!!

Bill

I'm not sure, he looks more brown to me. I know I don't identify myself by my race, I usually consider myself an American.

Lola*

He needs all the black people's votes,
and he wants to be known and appreciated as the first black president, i assume

salyers274

i kina wonder the same thing like to hear his answer for it

Isaac O

Whatever gives people of mixed race the greatest advantage in life is what they are going to claim they are. They have gone so far as to include the selection of "mixed" in some questionnaires in order to be more politically correct. Apparently Obama feels he can get a better opportunity for work and education.

tazforang

He says this because in this racist country we live in if you have 1/8 of black blood running through your veins you are required to label yourself as black. It is the rule of the white devil.

LifeSlash

Once you go black. you NEVER go back.

pinky

Because Obama is ashamed of his white mother.

jamann@carolina.rr.com

It is no problem at all for him to say he's bi-racial millions of people sure do. The question is why he chose to be called black and filled out applications that stated so? I believe the most logical answer is that access to private schools and Harvard University wouldn't have been possible because of how bad his grades were in high school. There are/were advantages to choosing black as his ethnicity; it sure helped him get elected since he certainly didn't have the resume for becoming the President of the United States. Never managed a P&L, a budget, people, worked in the private sector, etc. It's not logical to put someone in the highest office in the land whose entire professional focus was community organizing. I'm still both scared and shocked that over 50 million people didn't' care about his background.

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